Our Passover Lamb

Our Passover Lamb

Exodus 12:3-9

Egypt was a ruined nation, but still Pharaoh would not free the Israelites. God promised to send one final plague. The Destroyer of God would kill every first-born son in the land. God established a special meal that was to be eaten by the Israelites from then on to remember how they were rescued from Egyptian bondage. But this feast means something for us even today. It has meaning for us because it foreshadows:

a. Our Passover Lamb, Jesus Christ (I Cor. 5:7). 7 Clean out the old leaven so that you may be a new lump, just as you are in fact unleavened. For Christ our Passover also has been sacrificed. NASB

b. Our deliverance from the slavery of sin (Rom. 6:17-18). Freed from sin and are now slaves to righteousness.

c. Our special meal (The Lord’s supper) that helps us remember the Blood that was shed for us (Mt. 26:28). 28 for this is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for forgiveness of sins.

Let us notice some interesting parallels between the Passover lamb of Israel and our Passover Lamb, Jesus Christ.

**tTurn to the text, Exodus 12:3-9**

A beloved lamb (verses 3 and 6).

They were to select a lamb on the tenth day of the first month and keep it until the 14th day. It became the custom of each Israelite family to take the lamb into their home, feed it, cuddle it, love it, and treat it as one of the family. Then on the fourteenth day, its little throat was slit and the blood of that precious little lamb was pour into a basin.

Some here were raised on livestock farms. Children on farms were not allowed to get attached or name livestock. This was to prevent the feeling of eating a family pet. An Israelite family, however, loved, petted, even named their lamb. Then watch it die and ate it. This was all a part of God’s plan. Why?

God must have had Jesus in mind. John 3:16 16 “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.This was not a stranger God offered but a Son; not just a Son but His only Son; not just His only Son but His beloved Son; not just His only beloved Son but a beloved Son in whom He was pleased! This Son was real! He had a name! He is our Savior so we call Him Jesus, He is our ruler so we call Him Lord, and He is our God so we call Him Immanuel, and He is God’s anointed one so we call Him Christ!

Through this Passover lamb, God began to show us the ugliness of sin, the price of deliverance; something we love had to die! Imagine a pet raised to be put to death, now imagine your child coming into this world for the purpose of being put to death.

A shared lamb (4).

This lamb was to be shared, no leftovers. It was a time of fellowship and sharing, the families all under one roof (Similar to our Thanksgiving meal). This foreshadowed our partaking of the Lord’s Supper. We too, are one family under one roof, partaking of one bread, one fruit of the vine. Like Israel we celebrate our deliverance. Imagine the emotions of that occasion (sadness, joy). Shouldn’t we share the same type of emotions when we partake of the feast?

The best lamb (5).

The Passover lamb was to be in the prime of life (one year old), perfect in every way, no spots or blemishes.I Pet. 1:18-19 18 knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, 19 but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ.

The only perfect human who ever walked on this sin-blemished earth was crucified at the age of 33, in the prime of His life. Why so young? He could have perhaps accomplished more if allowed to live longer, but it had to be a perfect sacrifice.

A bleeding lamb (6-7).

Blood is important in our lives. In this first Passover blood was essential for the sparing of life.Blood was smeared on the doorposts. Blood from this lamb was salvation. We too, face death; spiritual death and we need blood to save us.I Pet. 1:18-19

Blood on the door symbolic of the cross.

A whole lamb (8-9).

They were to roast the lamb. Could not boil, that would hide the lamb in a pot. Head, legs and insides were to be kept intact. Keep in mind when you roast something you place it on a spit, a wooden stick for all to see. When we cook an animal we have the butcher prepare it in such a way until it no longer resembles the animal we are eating. (Some even dislike eating whole fish.)

But the Passover lamb was to be prepared in such a way that people never forgot what they were eating. It was their pet, family member; it had a name, roasting there in front of them. Not just meat on a spit, but their beloved lamb suspended on a wooden stick.

Jesus was placed on a wooden stick to die for us, for the entire world to see. Like the lamb He was left whole, not a bone broken. Can you see Him there suspended between heaven and earth, between two thieves, dying the death of a criminal, dying in your place and in my place (Jn. 1:29)?

What would have happened if the Passover lamb was not slain, blood not applied?